Ron May wrote:
>
> In a message dated 3/1/01 8:59:28 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> << Flow blue also made its way to a clachan on Rathlin Island off the north
> coast of Ireland--
> >>
> The question begs, did flow blue sell in England, Ireland (and presumably
> Scotland?) as a cheap source of colorful ceramics? That would make more sense
> than the folks bought it because it was "fashionable" in the States.
Not to mention Wales...
This is an interesting issue, but not one that can be fully addressed at
present. Let me make it clear that not for a second am I suggesting
that 19th century households on this side of the Atlantic at any point
purchased ceramics because they were fashionable in the USA. In fact I
think it's highly unlikely that this would have been a consideration.
My work's almost exclusively on rural sites in Wales and Scotland, which
narrows my ability to address the issue fully, but a couple of
thoughts...
As far as Scotland is concerned, the 19th century Highland and Island
assemblages that I've looked at are pre-clearance. This essentially
puts them at pre-1830, and thus flow blue per se isn't an issue.
In Wales, certainly as far as north Pembrokeshire is concerned, the
predominant transfer print pattern in the relevant assemblages is
Asiatic Pheasants. Where the pattern can be traced to a particular
maker, it's usually one of the incarnations of the Llanelli potteries (a
quick look at a map of Wales will show that Llanelli is quite close to
north Pembs.). Off the top of my head (I don't have my reports to
hand), flow blue and flow black are isolated samples. They certainly
don't occur with the same frequency as they do on the contemporaneous
American sites I've worked on. 'Cheap' and 'Colourful' ceramics in the
Welsh assemblages tend to be either common and/or local transfer prints
or (geometric and abstract) cut sponge wares.
Therefore I'm not surprised that Audrey Horning reports that flow blue
has been found on Rathlin Island.
There's obviously a lot of subtexts involving class, wealth, identity,
acquisition and access (etc...) that I don't have the time or
inclination to address in an e-mail (some of the Welsh data should be
published later this year, and other bits are in my doctoral thesis),
but in essence, less expensive, unfashionable, or otherwise unwanted
19th century wares did unsurprisingly find their way to the margins of
the United Kingdom. This is hardly specific to pottery (see, for
example, the origins of 'traditional' Welsh costume)
One potentially relevant and interesting example (although once again,
this is one isolated example, and should not be construed as 'proof') is
that an obvious increase in the percentage of transfer prints occurring
in Pembrokeshire assemblages coincides with the fashionability of white
granite in the USA, when of course decorated wares sold in much smaller
quantities on the other side of the Atlantic ('dig locally, think
globally', anyone?).
Tangentially, there are individual cases where having relatives on the
other side of the Atlantic obviously influences the acquisition of
material culture... One 19th century Welsh cottage, preserved as a
museum, that I visited had a 'greetings from Patagonia' carving on the
wall. Just in case you didn't know, one of the more obscure incidents
in the British diaspora was the Welsh settlement in Patagonia - which is
surely just waiting to be excavated.
Alasdair Brooks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alasdair Brooks
Department of Archaeology
University of York
King's Manor
York
YO1 7EP
England, UK
phone: 01904 433931
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Buffalo tastes the same on both sides of the border"
Sitting Bull
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